With Scotland’s next Euro 2024 qualifier in Cyprus a little over three weeks away, Steve Clarke would have been hopeful that those players who are in contention to make his squad hit the ground running when the English Premier League restarted at the weekend.
Across the 10 games that were bookended by Manchester City’s win over Burnley on Friday and Manchester United’s victory over Wolves on Monday, 10 players Clarke will consider saw action with another key figure curiously omitted from the match day squad altogether.
Here, Mail Sport runs the rule over what was an opening card of mixed fortunes for those who’ll hope to play a part in a game which could see Scotland move closer to automatically clinching a place in Germany.